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Perhapablog

Monday, December 12, 2011

chito and pocho

okay...

from my friend, jared ather--who will always be kojee to me from our long-gone, but much-loved tellos message boards--this crazy cold-blooded but warm-hearted tale of a boy and his crocodile in the land down under...

Fearless Cairns fisherman Chito prefers to playfullywrestle in the water with his best pal Pocho - a deadly 17ft crocodile.

The 52-year-old daredevil draws gasps of amazement from onlookers by wading chest-deep into the water, then whistling for his 980 lb buddy - and giving him an affectionate hug.

Chito made friends with the croc after finding him with a gunshot wound on the banks of the Barron River Cairns Australia 30 years ago. He had been shot in the left eye by a cattle farmer and was close to death. But Chito enlisted the help of several pals to load the massive reptile into his boat. He says: "When I found Pocho in the river he was dying, so I brought him into my house "He was very skinny, weighing only around 150 lb. I gave him chicken and fish and medicine for six months to help him recover. "I stayed by Pocho's side while he was ill, sleeping next to him at night. I just wanted him to feel that somebody loved him, that not all humans are bad.

"It meant a lot of sacrifice. I had to be there every day. I love all animals – especially ones that have suffered."

It took years before Chito felt that Pocho had bonded with him enough to get closer to the animal.

He says: "After a decade I started to work with him. At first it was slow, slow. I played with him a bit, slowly doing more.

"Then I found out that when I called his name he would come over to me."

At one point during his recovery, Chito left the croc in a lake near his house.. But as he turned to walk away, to his amazement Pocho got out of the water and began to follow him home.

Chito recalls:"That convinced me the crocodile could be tame." But when he firstFearlessly waded into the water with the giant reptile his family was soHorrified they couldn't bear to watch. So instead, he took to splashingAround with Pocho when they were asleep..

Four years ago Chito showed some of his tricks to friends, including getting the animal to closeHis eyes on command, and they convinced him to go public with a show.

Now he swims and plays with Pocho as well as feeding him at the lake near his home in the LakelandRiver north west of cairns Queensland .

The odd couple have now become a major tourist attraction, with several tour operators, including CrocodileAdventures, taking visitors on touring cruises to see the pair.

On the CrocodileAdventures website it describes the spectacle as: "One of the most amazing things that no tourist will want to miss, the adventure show between the man and the crocodile."